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Monday, July 20, 2009

Chocolate & Vietnamese Coffee Tart

for a recent summer ladies' brunch at buu's, i brought along a tart (for a bunch of tarts) that i had spied almost 4 years ago. hunting thru the many copies of Bon Appétit on my bookshelf, i finally located the battered issue, doggy earred and sticky noted-up, i figured it would go over well as an after thought, a slight pick me up from a more than likely heavily laden buffet table. i knew that while the champagne would be free flowing, the chances of a fresh cup of coffee would be slim. i was right.

it should be noted that i put in the original recipe's tart trust but i actually made a graham cracker crust. in this heat of summer, it is a bitch to keep the butter properly cold and without a food processor, damn near impossible for the dough to form correctly. i made my life simpler. maybe in the dead of winter, i'll feel inclined to make the tart crust properly.

Chocolate and Vietnamese Coffee Tartadapted from Bon Appétit, November 2005

For the crust:
place flour, slivered almonds, and salt in processor; mix until almonds are finely ground. add sugar, cocoa powder and chilled butter. using on/off turns, process almond mixture until coarse meal forms. add egg and process until moist clumps form. gather dough into ball and flatten into disk. Refrigerate overnight. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 9" diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Refrigerate crust 1 hour. (can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated. *note: i used a 10" pan, the bottom was NOT removable, and it was fine.)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line tart crust with aluminum foil, fill with died beans or pie weights. Bake until edges are set, about 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and beans, and bake until tart crust is dry and cooked thru, about 7 minutes longer. Cool tart trust completely.

For filling:
bring first six ingredients to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk egg in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture to saucepan and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens slightly and candy thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160F, stirring constantly, about 1 minute (do not boil). Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until melted and smooth. Strain filling into another medium bowl. Refrigerate until cool, about 3 hours. Pour filling into tart crust. Chill until softly set, at least 8 hours or overnight.

For chantilly:
Using electric mixer, beat cream in large bowl until peaks begin to form. Add sweetened condensed milk and salt; beat chantilly until peaks form.

Cut tart into wedges and serve each with a dollop of Chantilly.

Verdict:
very sweet and decadent, almost too heavy. the chantilly did not turn out, nuria misread the recipe and put in too much salt so the peaks never formed. maybe the chantilly would've cut the sweetness a bit. i enjoyed the flavor of the tart but to call it an actual vietnamese coffee flavored tart would be a stretch, i did not notice much of the strong depth of coffee flavor that is normally found in cà phê sữa đá. transporting the tart from baltimore to virginia in the heat of summer, even with the A/C on high softened the tart a bit. be sure that that tart is fully set before cutting into it.
(french culinary term for sweetened and/or flavored

If there's one flavor combination I love, it's chocolate and coffee. I don't need the coffee to be a strong presence, but the two together can really sing. It's a bummer when you work on something so beautiful and time-consuming and it doesn't quite meet your expectations. However, it looks delicious!

Anyway, I found you through TasteSpotting and am writing to say that if you have any photos that aren’t accepted there, I’d love to publish them. Visit my new site (below), it’s a lot of fun! I hope you will consider it.

tangled noodle,the cinnamon and star anise does give the coffee more depth of flavor, and yes it is synonymous with vietnamese coffee. for me tho, it's the condense milk that brings to mind vietnamese coffee, it's the sweet and creaminess of it, without masking the strong bitterness of the coffee.

Meeso, i hope you enjoy it. and i'm thinking the smaller already prepared tart/pie crusts would work fine in this recipe. it's all about the filling anyway. :)

Kirby, thank you!

Shannalee, i don't know why but i feel like i should attempt the actual crust. but you're right, the graham cracker crust was lovely.

amritac, i've always been such a fan of the coffee and chocolate combo. the bitterness combined with sweetness, oxymoronic i know but works so well!

casey, thanks! my sentiments exactly. i can't complain, it was a hit at brunch and did turn out quite pretty.

atrayubrandy, it's the combo of chocolate and coffee that makes you drool! :) who wouldn't be?

Leela, in this case, it's really the filling that is the star. i would actually be ok with using an already prepared tart/pie crust as long as the filling came out properly.

tangled noodle,the cinnamon and star anise does give the coffee more depth of flavor, and yes it is synonymous with vietnamese coffee. for me tho, it's the condense milk that brings to mind vietnamese coffee, it's the sweet and creaminess of it, without masking the strong bitterness of the coffee.

Meeso, i hope you enjoy it. and i'm thinking the smaller already prepared tart/pie crusts would work fine in this recipe. it's all about the filling anyway. :)

Kirby, thank you!

Shannalee, i don't know why but i feel like i should attempt the actual crust. but you're right, the graham cracker crust was lovely.

amritac, i've always been such a fan of the coffee and chocolate combo. the bitterness combined with sweetness, oxymoronic i know but works so well!

casey, thanks! my sentiments exactly. i can't complain, it was a hit at brunch and did turn out quite pretty.

atrayubrandy, it's the combo of chocolate and coffee that makes you drool! :) who wouldn't be?

Leela, in this case, it's really the filling that is the star. i would actually be ok with using an already prepared tart/pie crust as long as the filling came out properly.

If there's one flavor combination I love, it's chocolate and coffee. I don't need the coffee to be a strong presence, but the two together can really sing. It's a bummer when you work on something so beautiful and time-consuming and it doesn't quite meet your expectations. However, it looks delicious!

Anyway, I found you through TasteSpotting and am writing to say that if you have any photos that aren’t accepted there, I’d love to publish them. Visit my new site (below), it’s a lot of fun! I hope you will consider it.